Fall of the Trossels

Rainbow Dash flew into a corkscrew as Stonebolt followed close behind.

"I don't know, Dash," Stonebolt said cautiously. "It looks pretty hard." Rainbow Dash flew over to her.

"Stone, relax," Rainbow Dash told her. "Just give it a try." Stonebolt flew up into the air and spiraled around in mid-air. "There ya go. Great work for a first try." Stonebolt swung back around and spun out of control.

"I can't stop!" she finally crashed into a pink earth pony. Stonebolt brushed herself off and helped the pony she crashed into as Rainbow Dash landed next to them. "Sorry, I just lost control."

"Pinkie," Rainbow Dash said. "You okay?"

"Don't worry about it, Dash," Pinkie said cheerfully. "I'm fine." Infernalo teleported next to Stonebolt in a flash of bright light.

"Stonebolt, what were you doing," he demanded.

"Look. I lost control. Relax." Infernalo turned his attention to Rainbow Dash, who was staring at him in amazement.

"Hi Infernalo," she said dreamily. "Thisis my friend Pinkie Pie. Pinkie, this Infernalo and his sister Stonebolt. They're Trossels."

"What's a Trossel," Pinkie asked. "Is it like some kind of desert?" Infernalo sighed.

"No," he said firmly. "We're the rarest race in all the world, as well as the most powerful. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to find something out." The two teleported away in a flash of light.

"Pinkie," Rainbow said. "Just to be clear, I saw him first." Pinkie shrugged.

"I don't see why you like him, Dash," she said. Rainbow Dash blushed.

"What are you talking about," she protested. "I don't like him like. Did he say anything about me?" Pinkie shrugged and trotted off.

Frostburn and Leafwind were trotting along across a long trail.

"Frostburn," Leafwind whined. "I'm bored. What do you do for fun around here?"

"Leafwind," Frostburn sighed. "Just go exploring around town, make some friends. We can meet up later." Leafwind sighed and followed the path to a treehouse. Scootaloo flew down to her.

"Hey Leafwind," Scootaloo said. "What's up?"

"I'm bored," Leafwind said. "What do you guys do for fun around here?"

"Well," Scootaloo said thinking. "What did you used to do for fun?" Leafwind tapped her front hoof in thought and shrugged in defeat.

"Well, we could always meet up withSweetie Belle and Apple Bloom and go searching in the woods."

"Searching for what?"

"Nothing in particular. It'll be like an adventure!" Leafwind smiled and flew away. Leafwind waited by the entrance to the forest for what felt like hours. A small pink filly trotted up to her.

"Well, hello there," she said. Leafwind looked around, assuming that she was talking to someone else. "I'm talking to you, silly. My name's Diamond Tiara."

"I'm Leafwind."

"So, why are you waiting outside the Everfree forest for?"

"I'm waiting for Scootaloo and her friends, so we can have fun." Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, before resting them on Leafwind's cutie mark.

"You have a cutie mark," she said in amazement. Leafwind nodded. "And you still want to hang around with those blank flanks?"

"Well, yeah. They're my friends." Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow.

"Leafwind, Leafwind, let me show down the right path. Let's walk and talk." Leafwind followed Diamond Tiara blindly as they talked.

Infernalo placed the last book back on the shelf and floated back down to the floor.

"Thank you so much for helping me sort these books, Infernalo," Twilight said. "You're so sweet."

"Well," Infernalo said. "Aquashine always used to tell me that. It seems that I have a talent for helping pretty girls." Twilight blushed, trying to hide it by burying her face in her mane.

"Who's Aquashine," she asked. Infernalo looked down in depression.

"She was a girl I used to know," he said. "It didn't end well, for either of us."

"I'm so sorry," Twilight said. Infernalo looked up at her.

"At least I've been able to meet so many interesting ponies, including you."

"Well," Twilight said, blushing deeper than ever. "I'd say I'm pretty lucky to have met you guys. Frostburn is so sweet, and Stonebolt is so interesting, and you..." She slowly trailed off and leaned closer to Infernalo. Spike walked into the room, and broke the mood.

"Spike," Twilight said. "What is it now? You're ruining the mood."

"Sorry Twilight," Spike said. "Infernalo, do you know where Frostburn is? I've been looking for her all day."

"I'm not her babysitter," Infernalo said bitterly.

"You are her brother," Spike said. Infernalo sighed.

"Look, kid, I haven't seen her all day. She's probably with Stonebolt; they're never too far away from each other. If you find Stonebolt, chances are you'll find her." Spike nodded and left. Twilight glanced over at Infernalo's bag.

"You're reading Interrogation of a Soldier?"

"Re-reading. I don't think I've ever met someone who knew about the works of Eltigo Morose before."

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked around outside the forest.

"I thought she'd be here," Scootaloo said. "If she went in without us..." Frostburn looked down at the girls.

"You must be Leafwind's friends," Frostburn said cheerfully. "She's told me a lot about you three. I'm Frostburn."

"Wait," Apple Bloom said skeptically. "Like the Frostburn that Leafwind told us about?"

"Seems that way," she said. As she left, Leafwind trotted up to the three.

"Leafwind," Scootaloo snapped. "Where the hay have you been?"

"I'm sorry, guys," she said, sounding genuinely sympathetic. "I just met this new friend of mine, Diamond Tiara, and sorta lost track of time."

"Wait a minute," Apple Bloom interjected. "You were hanging around Diamond Tiara?" Leafwind nodded, oblivious to the others confusion and surprise.

"She's actually pretty sweet," she said. "Well, maybe we can have some fun together tomorrow. See ya later." With that, she flew away.

Stonebolt walked up to Spike, who was sitting on a bench and sulking.

"What's up," she asked.

"I've been looking all over for Frostburn, and her brother said that she's never too far from her sister, but I couldn't find her either."

"You just did," she said. Spike glanced up and saw Frostburn staring back at him and Stonebolt next to her.

"There's two of you," he said in amazement.

"Technically," they said. Spike was overwhelmed and fainted.